The Pitti Tondo

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In this tondo, Michelangelo placed a Child whose pose brings to mind that of an ancient funeral spirit. Thus the overall effect, despite the apparently playful attitude of the Child, is deeply serious, and the Madonna possesses a prophetic force due to her size, which bursts out from the frame of the relief. This cast comes from the original high-relief housed at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence. In the Tondo Pitti group (commissioned by Bartolomeo Pitti), any formal frame is ignored and this outline takes on a slightly oval shape. The Madonna and Child are simpler and more clearly formed than in the Tondo Taddei. With her left hand, she embraces the infant Jesus, who leans his whole weight against her, bracing his head with a bent arm resting on the open book (which symbolizes wisdom) lying on her lap. The Madonna sits on a low block of stone, filling the entire composition. However, due to the slightly oval format, and her head breaking the tondo's edge, she does not appear crowded. Her features are more sharply defined here than those of Michelangelo's earlier Madonnas. Full locks of hair frame her angular face, with its deep dimples and prominent chin. She wears an unusual ornamental head covering - the first in a series later employed by the master - which heightens the expression of watchfulness in her face. As in the Tondo Pitti, the approaching figure of Saint John also plays a subordinate role and is unfinished. He appears to have caught the Madonna's attention as she looks back over her shoulder. This scan was produced in collaboration between The Statens Museum for Kunst and Scan the World for the SMK-Open project. Every model produced from this initiative is available under an open source license. Scanner - Artec Eva